El Debarge Escapes Cocaine Charges

It was a close call for El DeBarge but he will not be facing charges of cocaine possession with intent to sell.

El DeBarge

DeBarge was arrested on Tuesday in what officers thought was a drug deal. According to TMZ, the other man at the scene even told the officers that he was there to buy cocaine from the singer but the officers checked both of them and didn’t find any illegal substances. An area search did turn up a bag of cocaine under a nearby car but, in a stroke of fantastic luck for DeBarge, the D.A. decided that there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the singer.

DeBarge has a long history of drug problems along with a couple of arrests. There was some concern that a conviction in this case could subject him to California’s three-strike rule.

El was originally part of the family group DeBarge who scored top ten hits with Rhythm of the Night and Who’s Holding Donna Now. In 1986, he went solo hitting number 3 in the U.S. with his first single, Who’s Johnny from the movie Short Circuit. He hit the R&B top ten two more times with Love Always and Real Love.